ABOUT US
Our Family, Staff, & Crew
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Aram & Conor Guptill
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Emily Zentis
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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Jacob J. Zentis
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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Meghan Flynn
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
MAINSTAGE SHOWS
History of
HACKMATACK
Hackmatack Playhouse was founded in 1972 by S. Carleton Guptill. Carleton envisioned a summer stock theater that would showcase the talents of professional and developing thespians from the regional New England area. For 50-plus years, the Guptill family has brought Carleton’s dream to life.
Much of the allure of the playhouse is centered around its rural and historical character. Nestled against a hill where American bison now graze, Hackmatack Playhouse is located on the historic Guptill homestead, where the Guptills have resided since the 1680s. Berwick, in the 1600s, was seen as the wild frontier of the New World.
The Guptills resided as subsistence farmers, etching out a living among the harsh climate and rocky soil of Maine, and navigated the socio-political climate of Colonial New England, including relationships with the Pennacook tribe (for more information about the Indigenous community in the Salmon Falls region, please visit the Indigenous NH Collaborative Collective).
The Guptill family has a long tradition of entertaining locals and summer visitors in the Beaver Dam section of Berwick. Carleton’s grandfather, Samuel Guptill, would hold weekly barn dances next door from Hackmatack at the Forget-Me-Not, a popular community venue during the early decades of the 1900s. His son Lewis was influential in the agricultural community and served as the state Grange Master for Maine.
Additionally, Lewis was a skilled musician of many instruments and had a passion for starting bands and performing both locally in Beaver Dam and across all of Maine. Carleton would follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps as an entertainer to organize several theater groups, first at the Beaver Dam grange, and then in 1972 at Hackmatack Playhouse.
Carleton Guptill’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have taken on the role of creating theater and community for southern Maine. After Carleton’s passing in 1994, Carleton’s son Michael Guptill served as executive producer of Hackmatack Playhouse working closely with community partners to provide a space where budding actors could hone their craft alongside professional actors in an idyllic setting. In 2012, at Hackmatack’s 40th season, Conor and Shelby Guptill, Michael’s son and daughter-in-law, began the reintegration of livestock onto the family farm, focusing on regenerative practices and the sustainability of heritage animal breeds.
After the 50th season celebration in 2022, Michael Guptill passed the executive producer role on to two of his sons Conor and Aram Guptill. The Guptill family remains committed to providing a place for the community to come together and appreciate affordable theater in a beautiful and serene setting.